For Immediate Release: March 30, 2016

Contact: Nathan Ballard (415) 464-6779

SFPOA DEMANDS THAT D.A. GASCON

ALLOW TESTIMONY BY AFRICANAMERICAN POLICE OFFICERS AT
GASCONS BLUE RIBBON PANEL
Union Attorney Asks If Gascon Fears Contradiction Of His
Broad-Brush Condemnation Of Police Officers
Attorney Also Asks If Gascon Fears First-Hand Account Of
Cambridge Dinner Where Gascon Disparaged AfricanAmericans
SAN FRANCISCO Today, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) released a
letter from its attorneys (attached) that demands that African-American police officers be
allowed to testify before District Attorney George Gascons handpicked Blue Ribbon Panel.
In a letter to the panel, the unions attorney Gregg Adam notes that other than Chief Greg Suhr,
Gascons panel has only allowed one officer to testify: Sgt. Yulanda Williams, a vocal critic of
the department. The letter criticizes the exclusion of other African-American officers who hold
different views and asks: how can you really hold your Panel out to be fair and impartial if you
refuse to allow the testimony of Sgt. Tracy McCray, Inspector Clifford Cook, and Former
Commander Leroy Lindo, three African American officers who dispute Sgt. Williamss skewed
views about the Police Department?
The union also asks why Gascons panel is barring Gary Delanges, a former union president,
from testifying: Why are you refusing to let Mr. Delagnes testify? Is it because Mr. Gascon is
afraid of hearing testimony that will contradict his broad-brush condemnation of the
Department? Or is it because Mr. Gascon is afraid to let the panel hear a firsthand account of the
dinner in Cambridge where Mr. Gascon used racially inflammatory language?
On March 2, 2016, Delagnes submitted a sworn declaration that says Gascon made multiple
statements disparaging African-Americans during an April 2010 dinner in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Delagnes testimony was confirmed in sworn statements by two other witnesses:
Martin Halloran, the unions current president, and Chris Breen, a retired San Francisco police
officer.
Gascon has refused to comment in any detail on the Cambridge dinner. He initially issued

through a spokesman what Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., described as a non-denial denial. (San
Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2016.) After a week of silence, Gascon acknowledged attending
the dinner, but issued a denial that lacked any detail.
Mayor Brown said that Gascon should have asked a prosecutor from another county convene the
Blue Ribbon Panel. (San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2016.)
Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp (ret.) demanded that Gascon recuse himself from his own
panel. In a February 17, 2016 letter to Gascon, the judge accused Gascon of a conflict of interest.
Kopp said that by handpicking the Blue Ribbon Panel, Gascon has created the perception that
you are investigating yourself because Gascon was chief during some of the time period being
scrutinized by the panel.
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